Author: Alfred DeRose | Tego Interactive
It's Retail 101 again in mobile. We thought we saw (and learned) it all in the heyday of the mobile operator portals, but it's all coming back if we examine the recent wave of app stores. From handset makers turned content/services providers (Nokia and Apple) to platform providers (Android), and from mobile operators (Vodafone and Telefónica) to independent app emporiums (GetJar) – the excitement is all about software applications stores, but the usability is hardly a crowd-pleaser.
What needs to be done to make content findable and buyable? How (and why) should our experience on mobile complement our experience online? And where does the user fit in? It's just common sense, really. Smart retailers make shopping a no-brainer by placing hot-selling items where consumers can see them. Mobile operators and content providers, on the other hand, forced users to navigate through multiple menus and sift through catalogues to find content they like.
Author: Alfred DeRose | Tego Interactive
When Amazon kicked off the month by taking the wraps off its Amazon Mobile Payments Service, or MPS (a technology that includes a set of APIs allowing mobile developers to provide payment options to their customers within mobile websites and mobile applications), it introduced more than just another way for people to pay for stuff using their phone; it set a usability benchmark that more established players, particularly mobile operators, could find hard to beat.
It's great to kick of the New Year with an analysis of some of the companies and developments sure to leave their mark on 2009. In the case of Taptu - a provider of "socially assisted" mobile search that MSG has tracked from day one - it's a case of both. It's a company we're sure to hear more from and - more importantly - it's a company whose recent deals with Gofresh-owned itsmy.com point the way to one trend high on my radar: The natural fit between mobile social networks and mobile search.
I caught up with Steve Ives, Taptu CEO, in an exclusive interview where he revealed the recent deal with itsmy.com is just the start. Look for three more deals with mobile social networks before February. Also expect Taptu to sharpen its focus on mobile search monetization, particularly in the U.S. where Steve tells me most of his traffic is. (And there's an even better reason to concentrate on mobile search sponsored links, sources tell me CPMs around key word search terms are in the $3-$10 range.)
January 5, 2009
Tags: 3i, Apple, BuzzCity, Discovery, Facebook, Google, iPhone, itsmy.com, MCN, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Search, Segmentation, Sofinnova, Taptu, UI, Yahoo
Posted in Content Discovery, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Research, Mobile Search, Mobile Social Media, Personalization, Portfolio | 1 Comment »
That’s my line-up for the next days as I prepare to speak on mobile search and mobile SEO at Mobile Content, an event organized by IIR Ltd., and move into the homestretch of the Netsize Guide – an extensive mobile industry almanac featuring 25+ exclusive C-Level interviews with industry movers and shakers (think Google, Nokia Ovi, and a slew of cool content companies) I have been commissioned to write for the second year.
In addition to these great interviews and encounters (doing some…
November 12, 2008
Tags: AdMob, barcode, ChaCha, Google, Hiogi, ISM, Jordan Communications, MDS, mobile analytics, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Search, Mobile SEO, Netsize, Nextcode, Nokia Ovi
Posted in Articles Published, Content Discovery, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Search, Mobile Social Media, Personalization | No Comments »
This explains some of the radio silence at ChangingWorlds and why Barry Smyth, ChangingWorlds Chief Scientist, sought me out at the recent recommender conference Recsys 2008 to demo his new and super-cool social search app. I can’t give too much away now, but let’s just say search (like advertising) is fast becoming content and Barry, who was the brains behind ChangingWorlds’ path-breaking personalization technology, has developed a game-changing approach that will roc…
November 6, 2008
Tags: amdocs, changingworlds, M&A, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Search, Recommendation
Posted in Articles Published, Content Discovery, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Search, Mobile Social Media, Personalization, Recommendation | No Comments »
I avoid using the term “mobile guru” to describe myself. (A Philosophy of Science degree has made me humble. “True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.”-Socrates )
Get the Bango Whitepaper
However, I am deeply honored that Bango thinks of me as such: communicated in their press releases, corporate messaging and on the cover of my new release mobile advertising white paper, Mobile advertising for newbies. As of today it’s available for free downloa…
October 14, 2008
Posted in Articles Published, Content Discovery, Mobile Content, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Research, Mobile Social Media, White Papers | 10 Comments »
